Throughout my travels, I have been fortunate enough to meet many others living a similar lifestyle to me, and i have connected with most of these folks who share the same core values as me. This lifestyle connection leads to a quickly progressing friendship, and often brings me inspiration and perspective on a new way of thinking.
So why only share MY roaming story? Christopher Craig Cohen.
IG:@souladventurer311
Snapchat: Soul-Adventurer
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| Chris lives in his '91 Chevy conversion van all year-round. Since may 2014 he's been going all over the US for 7 months of the year. He has his own driveway seal-coating business on Long Island NY that he runs and works for the other 5 months to fund his lifestyle LONG ISLAND NY. NATIVE |
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Our Adventures Together:
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| Josh and I hopped into Chris's van just 3 weeks ago to save gas in the bus, and we down to South Lake Tahoe for a day of exploring and a night full of gambling and roaming. SOUTH LAKE TAHOE CA. |
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| Vannin' in the National Forest by Crater Lake National Park. Pictured here is Chris's van and Dylan Bellngam's @myamericandreamtour CRATER LAKE OR. |
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| Jammin' in The Van With No Plan LONG ISLAND NY |
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| Farewell LONG ISLAND NY |
Q&A With Chris
What keeps you going? your goals or motivations.
-Life in general is my motivation and what keeps me going. Just being alive and knowing everyday is truly a new story waiting to be written. As for my goals I have and set many. Something as little as running an extra mile or something as big as taking my first trip ever out of this country, Which I plan to do next year for six months. Goals are good to set just as long as you don't get yourself down if you don't achieve them right away or even at all.
What does a day in the life consist of for you?
-Every morning I make some tea eat a grapefruit feed Yosemite and get some exercise in with him. Once that's done I'll figure out where we'll be exploring that day. There will be lots of hiking, biking or finding a place to catch up on some reading while relaxing in my eno hammock; mostly how my days unfold. If I'm in a more populated area I really love checking out thrift stores and seeing what kind of cool things I can find. I love talking with the locals and hearing about the area as well.
Is there ever a time it has been stressful to you, and what were those hardships?
-Definitely a few times. For instance right before I got on the road again for this trip out west I was getting a bunch of work done on my van back home on Long Island. Once I got it out of the shop it was running great and I was read to hit the road. A few days before my departure I was coming back from the beach when my transmission decided to give out. I couldn't even begin to describe how upset I was. Luckily the universe was on my side and I had a friend and fellow traveler (via Harley) who had my same transmission sitting around in his garage. I ended up only paying $250 for the transmission and I had another friend install it for $300. Pretty amazing if you ask me how it all worked out. That's normally well over a $1,500 job. Not to mention between breaking down and getting back on the road only took two days. Now my van is running strong again and I'm in Oregon answering your questions. One thing everyone should understand right away is that this is just life. No matter what you do in it you are going to end up going through a tough time and unfortunate events are bound to happen. You just have to try and stay positive and good things tend to always overcome the bad in any situation. It's really all perspective I guess and knowing things truly happen for a reason, even if that reason doesn't show itself right away. Always trust the path you're on.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to live a similar lifestyle to you?
-Just get out there and do it! My lifestyle believe it or not really isn't all that expensive either. I usually spend about a $1000 a month while traveling. It's all about making your life more simple and realizing most of the things you think you need or want you actually don't want or need. That saying is also true you know, "Life begins once you step outside of your comfort zone." So just believe in yourself and take that first step.
What are the risks of living this way to you?
-For me living this lifestyle I honestly don't feel I have many risk. I mean sure I don't have tons of money put away or a retirement that will be kicking in after I worked into my 60's. But if they think I'm going to let them tell me when it's time for me to live my life, well they got another thing coming. So I'll take my chances living by my own rules and traveling as much as possible. Life is about experiences. I just don't see how I can experience much working all my life. For some people that's ok and their happy with that, I get that. For me though I know there's so much more to life. I feel working all day to come home pretty much go to sleep so I can get up and do it all again is way more of a risk. It's a risk of a wasted life. A risk I'm not willing to take.
Would you ever change anything about the way you live?
-NOPE! I'm happy! Sure I choose to live out of my van something the average person couldn't do. But with my van I also get to choose where I want to live everyday. I get to see all these amazing and beautiful places. I get to meet, bond, and learn about so many amazing and beautiful people. Even while home on Long Island for the five months I'm working I still live out of my van. I'm a simple man I guess. I live in my van, work out of my pickup truck and save for my travels. Freedom is what I thought this country was all about anyway, correct? So I'm grabbing my piece of freedom in the form of a van.
______________________________________________________A taste of Chris's adventures. .  |
| Chasing Hot-springs all over the country has become a beloved hobby of his after having been to and had great experinces at different ones all across the country. That never really was a thing until he decided to live on the road. Here's a shot captured by him in Mammoth Lakes CA. |
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| Chris's favorite tree in the world, deep in the California desert. he calls this place his "cabana" and his home sometimes too. Last year you could have found him here for 22 full days, and he plans on going back to "secret spot" for another month here soon after he is done exploring the Pacific Northwest. I don't blame him, Ive been to this tree. It has like 3 "bedrooms" that are naturally made from the way the roots grew in, and has prime hammock spots all over the place. Chris's heaven in the desert. |
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| Chris actually explored, experienced, and even hiked through The Grand Canyon before meeting up with us in Flagstaff AZ, but after hearing that we were headed that way because we've never seen it, he didn't even have a problem going back again. He talked it up and even teased us with this picture of him lounging in his ENO hammock, The Grand Canyon will always be a favorite place of his but is far behind Yosemite as he would say. :) |
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| Yosemite National Park is by far Chris's favorite National Park, hands down. He even named his new Blue Heeler dog "Yosemite" and this dog is the colors of Half Dome (pictured here) His time spent here was spent exploring everything he could in the amount of time it takes him to get bored of being in one spot. For Chris, it usually isn't ling he stays anywhere unless there's a hot-springs around, but there's a special feeling Chris shares with this place. His happy place. SO. as you might be able to tell... Chris does have an eye for photograhy, though you can almost never find him wielding a camera around and fishing for a good shot. Chris, of course, captures pictures of himself and scenery from across the US during his time out, and does an awesome job of portraying the scene,, but when Chris is with others, he tends to pull it out for a quick second and capture an in-the-moment lifestyle shot that looks like something out of a catalog, a trick i noticed and called him out on during our time spent in Crater Lake Oregon. \Hes good at catching the peak of a moment. Here's a couple of captures that Chris took from places like Yosemite, California desert, Lake Siskiyou, and more. below.     
****FOR MORE OF CHRIS, AND HIS ADVENTURES MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW***** HIM ON INSTAGRAM @SOULADVENTURER311 AND ON HIS AWESOME SNAPCHAT STORIES FROM THE ROAD @SOUL-ADVENTURER
-Matt Monthei
Avid Roamer
Storyliver
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